The music world has at times been accused of producing quite a lot
of the exact same thing. There are so many bands in every genre that
come out each year, sounding just like bands that were new last
year. This is not confined to one style of music, but has been true
of country bands, pop bands, punk bands, folk bands, and all the
rest. There is just this tendency to produce music that sounds like
someone else's music, probably in the hopes that it will sell when
it hits the shelves. However, there are some record labels that have
tried to release new music, that have tried to find bands that sound
different and push the music scene in new and exciting directions.
Boobytrap Records was one such label, and the music world has lost
quite a lot of enthusiasm and ingenuity now that the record company
is no more.

Boobytrap Records was founded in 2000, in the month of October.
Perhaps being founded near such a strange holiday as Halloween
contributed to their desire for innovative new sounds. Whatever the
reason, these were the kinds of sounds that they were searching for,
and they made no secret of this fact. They started small, as many
labels do, and worked their way up to releasing full albums, all the
time looking for the type of talent that they were interested in.
This took time, but they were willing to wait. They had a plan and a
dream and they were not willing to compromise.

The record company was founded by Huw Stephens, of Radio 1, which
airs on the BBC. Huw was one of the youngest radio personalities
ever, starting when he was only nineteen. Some of this spunk and
youth can be seen to have influenced Boobytrap Records, since it was
founded when Huw was only twenty-one. From working on the radio and
around the music scene, Huw was well-versed in the way typical music
was put together, and in the way that typical record companies were
run. Having seen this gave him the ability and desire to be a part
of Boobytrap Records, and to run it the way that he wanted to run
it.

When it began, the record label was known as the Boobytrap Singles
Club, and it produced only singles and not full length albums. At
this stage, they produced singles by The Keys, Mclusky, and
Zabrinski, along with a number of others. This was seen as the first
stage, however, and not the top of the line for Boobytrap Records.
There was much more to come, and they fought their way upward,
wanting to release full length material that could push their
artists towards fame and success.

Once it had grown to be a full-sized record company, intent on
producing albums and not just singles, Boobytrap Records worked with
the music of, among others, attack+defend, Richard James, Ninjah,
and the Boyfriends. These were bands that, like Boobytrap Records,
were striving to be unique. They wanted to add something to music,
to give their personal touch and change something. This was what
Boobytrap Records believed in, and they worked with these bands to
that end for as long as they were in business.

The reasons for their fall are many and yet simple. It is just hard
to sustain a record company that makes its living off of signing
bands outside of the mainstream, because these sort of bands do not
have as wide of a fan base. They may have very dedicated fans, but
there are not enough of them to bring in the same amount of revenue
that the bigger, mainstream bands can. This made it hard for a
record company that had to spend so much of its time looking for new
talent to stay afloat. They made it through the year 2007, but that
was their last year as a business.